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On Saturday, after a 50-year break, London's Chelsea became the new champion of the Premier League in England, securing the gold medals by defeating Bolton and dethroning last year's champion, Arsenal, another team from the country's capital. This was the second title won by the "Blues" this season - under J.Mourinho's guidance, the team has already won the league cup (known as the "Carling Cup") and is also competing in the Champions League semi-finals.
Despite being pressured by opponents for a long time during the away game, Chelsea took advantage of Bolton's protest over a missed penalty, with F.Lampard scoring a goal after an hour of play. Shortly after, London team's goalkeeper P.Cech excellently defended a ball from his teammate Geremi, and this was a decisive moment as F.Lampard secured his club's victory with a second goal fifteen minutes before the end.
With three matches left until the end of the competition, Chelsea reached their 27th win and surpassed the former champions by an unbeatable fourteen-point lead.
Also on Saturday, the other 36th round matches were played. The most productive and dramatic game took place in Southampton, where the local team secured a crucial victory against Norwich with H.Camara's goal two minutes before the end of the match.
It was a missed opportunity for Liverpool to reduce the gap with Everton, as they played a draw at home against Middlesbrough. "Man City" rose to eighth place after winning against "Porsmouth" at home, while "Birmingham" defeated "Blackburn", surpassing them in the league table. On the other hand, "Newcastle" failed to beat "Crystal Palace" and dropped to fourteenth place.
After a one-round match, the games will continue on Sunday and Monday - tomorrow Tottenham will face Aston Villa, and on Monday W.B.A will play against Arsenal.
Statistics of Saturday's matches:
2 - 1
13' [0 - 1] Jon Stead
61' [1 - 1] Robbie Blake
80' [2 - 1] Emile Heskey
2 - 0
15' [1 - 0] John Collins
39' [2 - 0] Brian McBride
1 - 1
4' [1 - 0] Szilard Nemeth
52' [1 - 1] Steven Gerrard
0 - 0
2 - 0
4' [1 - 0] Sylvain Distin
17' [2 - 0] Robbie Fowler
4 - 3
3' [0 - 1] David Bentley
7' [1 - 1] Matt Oakley
20' [2 - 1] Peter Crouch
31' [2 - 2] Danny Higginbothom (own goal)
39' [3 - 2] Graeme Le Saux
45' [3 - 3] Leon McKenzie
88' [4 - 3] Henri Camara
0 - 2
60' [0 - 1] Frank Lampard
76' [0 - 2] Frank Lampard
